


Ren's Corruption [on hiatus but not for long]

by Yuki97103



Series: Yuki's Random Adventures [1]
Category: No Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Art by Yours Truly, Everyone is an animal, Fluff and Angst, Gen, I suck at this, Im new send help, Monsters, No Sex, No Smut, No humans, Please Don't Kill Me, Royalty, Sage is a ray of sunshine, That's a no-no, adding as i go, i hope i tagged everything right o-o, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:13:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 17,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27392506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuki97103/pseuds/Yuki97103
Summary: Everything was fine on the island of Auradea. Until a map was uncovered from the dust and it all goes downhill from there...(There will be one update a week!)(The first few chapters suck but I promise [HOPE] that it gets better)[edit: lost a bit of motivation for this thing,,, ill get back on this in an undefined time]
Series: Yuki's Random Adventures [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2059893





	1. Introduction

Hi there! This is the first work I've ever done on here soo I'm just gonna introduce some characters to you!

So the image above shows the first few characters that will be introduced. Yuki, Sarah, and Nicole are females. Kevin, Purrlex, and Monte are males. Ummm I don't have anything else to say but enjoy the story!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this is one short intro


	2. Things Go Downhill From There

Two wolves sat in a clearing. They were chatting by the looks of it. “High chance of that happening.” One snorted. “Last time you almost got eaten by a friggin _sea dragon_.”

“ _Almost._ You know what Nicole? I’ll bet you a quarter of my meal if I almost die today.” The other said to Nicole. Nicole thought for a few moments. “...Bet.” Suddenly, bushes started to rustle on the other side of the clearing. A green, purple, and blue wolf popped out. “Yuki! Nicole! Kevin and Monte found something! It's really exciting!” She exclaimed. “What now Sarah? A rainbow slug or something?” Asked Nicole. By then, Sarah had already rushed off.

She sighed. “Lets just follow Sarah.” Yuki said. Nicole nodded and got up. They chased Sarah for a while. They burst into a clearing where Kevin and Monte were located. “Hey guys! Look at this!” A blue and white wolf exclaimed to Yuki and Nicole. “Kevin, you and Monte found a piece of paper?” Kevin shook his head.

“It’s not just a piece of paper, look closer.” Monte said, who sat by the not-just-paper. Both Yuki and Nicole leaned closer to look at it. The not-just-paper had unrecognizable symbols on the front. Yuki flipped it around to find a map drawn on the back.

“Hi you all! What are you doing?” Kevin was startled a bit. “Oh hi Purrlex! Kevin and Monte found a map and I’m looking over it.” Yuki responded. “Care to join us where we go?” Purrlex nodded. “Everyone else are you coming?” Yuki was bombarded with ‘yes’s.

“Alright the first landmark is this way.” Yuki pointed towards where Purrlex came from. And so the group followed Yuki to the first landmark. “Purrlex, by any chance you passed a big rock here?” The cat looked thoughtful. “Actually yeah, I did Yuki. It’s straight from here.” Yuki thanked him and continued on her way.

The group arrived at the destination a few minutes later. “And here we have the beautiful, plain, but majestic, rock!” Monte declared. “Hot tourist destination number one!” Purrlex added. Sarah bounced around happily while Nicole lay on the grass. “Okay so the next location is that way. We’ll rest here for a few min-”

Then the hissing started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot in this chapter is really fast holy- o-o Better slow it down next chapter.


	3. Shadow Vipers!

Everyone stopped what they were doing. They looked at each other with fear-struck eyes. Nicole got up. The hissing starts again, louder this time. No one made a move. Yuki’s eyes darted around, her fur on edge. She checked for anything that might possibly be a signal for them to bolt. The hisses got louder and louder, and it was getting unbearable for the ears that listened.

Something black darted out from behind the rock. And in a blink of an eye, it lunged for Sarah’s leg. Nobody had time to react before it struck.

Sarah let out a pained howl. Everybody snapped out of their daze and _scrambled_ . Nicole bit the black...viper. Yuki realized that the thing that bit Sarah was a black viper. Weren’t vipers venomous? Oh. _Shit._ Nicole snapped the viper’s neck and jerked her head to the side. Black vipers flooded the area. Yuki hauled Sarah behind herself and stood in front of her.

Sarah whimpered in pain. Yuki spared a glance behind her and batted away a viper. Meanwhile Purrlex jumped over one and Kevin scratched at another viper. The reptiles surrounded them six. The five animals that were (thankfully) not bitten formed a protective circle around the one who was.

“Yup, were done for. This is the end. We’re gonna get mauled by these things.” Yuki muttered. She was mentally beating herself up from why she didn’t tell her friends to run. The vipers advance slowly, making the five back up more than needed.

Monte almost tripped over Sarah. He sent her a quick, hasty apology and looked towards the black reptiles. They slithered closer. Closer. And closer.

Yuki closed her eyes. They would probably be known as ‘The Ones Who Died By That Rock’ or something like that. She did _not_ want to see them when they bit her to death. She cracked her eyes open a little as to why they haven’t struck yet. What Yuki saw shocked her. The vipers were _evaporating_?

The others looked around confused. _Why_ were they evaporating? Yuki looked around. She noticed that the sun was out. That's probably why. The reptiles (?) were now gone and nonexistent. She breathed out a sigh of relief. Yuki looked back at Sarah to find her unconscious.

Oh.

_Ohhh_.

She went to pick up the ripped and folded map and trotted back to Sarah. “Where do we bring Sarah? The nearest hospital is in the closest city and that's going to take an hour only walking.” Monte said to himself while pacing around.

Yuki looked at Sarah nervously. She shifted her gaze to the map. The map had a north west east thing on the corner. If the rock was pointed that way...Then Zoth should be to her right. She knew that the city was just twenty-ish minutes away.

“Guys, I think I might have an idea where we're going next.” Everyone turned to Yuki. “Zoth is a few minutes away that way.” Monte looked surprised. “Oh. Zoth City. Right. It’s a few minutes away, got it.

And so their next destination was Zoth City. “Uhm, Yuki?” Yuki turned around. “I think you and Nicole should carry Sarah.” Kevin said to the pink wolf. Yuki cocked her head to the side as a sign of confusion. “You both are bigger than the rest of us.” “Oh.” Alright then. Yuki passed the map to her little brother and walked over to Nicole to tell her the plan. 

Both of the wolves went over to the passed-out Sarah. Yuki gingerly hauled Sarah over her and Nicole’s back with some help from the others.

Then the whole group set off towards Zoth.

They passed through the forest and found a small river in their path. Luckily, there were stepping stones. Everyone decided that they should take a few minutes to rest and cool off in the river. Yuki sighed as she slipped Sarah carefully from her back. She went to the river and drank greedily from it. She was dehydrated and _extremely thirsty_.

There was a call from the river. “Hey guys, lookit!” Yuki looked up from where she was gulping the water and noticed Monte was pointing in a specific direction. She turned her head towards where her friend was pointing and saw a hut.


	4. A Wild Sage Appears

“What?” “Huh?” The group crowds on one side of the river to get a better look. Yuki stepped in the river (she regrets that decision later) and angled her ears towards the hut where everyone could see.

When her friends spotted the small structure, they became uncertain of themselves. “First priority is Sarah. Should we just ask the animal that lives there for their help?’ Purrlex wondered aloud.

They all seemed to agree on that after. The group trotted to the little hut (which apparently had no doors) and Kevin knocked on the side of the opening.

There were some shuffling sounds from the inside. A calico she-cat showed herself. Her ears perked up. “Erm, h-hello, I’m Sage. What brings you to my house? She spoke. Her kind and soft voice made the group relax a little. Yuki walked closer, Nicole by her side.

“Hi! Uh, you see, earlier we were attacked by some vipers and our friend here, Sarah, has been bit by one.” Yuki explained. “By any chance you could help us?” Sage widened her eyes. “Y-yes I can help since I’m a healer. Please come in.” The calico whisked around and the group followed. Yuki wishes she had used the stepping stones to cross the river.

Her paws were all muddy, and she didn’t want to ruin the floor here. Both Yuki and Nicole had to go sideways into the hut since the opening was a tad bit too small for both to enter at once.

Nicole spotted some moss on the ground. “Can we lay Sarah here?” Sage nodded. Both wolves lowered Sarah onto the moss. Sage padded over to Sarah to get a better understanding of her temperature. “She’s burning up.” Sage murmured.

She then went to a shelf and grabbed three things. An empty container, another container with some kind of liquid in it, and a towel. Yuki looked closer to realize that the liquid was lavender oil. The healer then went to the river the group just crossed. She dipped the empty container into the water and took it back out. Sage added some drops of the oil into the water.

The cat soaks the towel in the lavender oil water and comes back to Sarah. She laid the towel on the knocked-out wolf’s head. “That helps bring the fever down.” She then went to get some salve she had on-hand (paw?). “I had some of this leftover from another patient that came in earlier today, with the same type of viper bite.” Sage explained.

“Do any of you other than Sarah have any injuries? I can treat those too.” The group shook their heads. “No, I think it’s just Sarah.” Purrlex replied. Sage nods in understanding and asks the group if they had a home to go back to. “To be honest, we don’t even have anywhere to call home to.” Nicole deadpanned.

“O-oh. Do you want to sleep here for awhile?” The group looked at eachother. “Yes we- sure!” Yuki exclaimed. “If you don’t mind?”

“I don’t mind.” Sage smiled.

“Thank you so much!” The group gave their appreciation and Sage led them downstairs. It seemed that there was a whole bunker down under. Yuki noticed a red and black winged wolf sleeping on a moss in a corner. “Please don’t mind Erin. She’s been bitten by the vipers like Sarah.”

“I really hope Erin and Sarah get better soon.” Purrlex murmurs. “Yeah...” Agreed Sage. They all picked a spot to sleep on. Yuki turned twice before settling down. “Thank you, Sage, for letting us sleep here and treating Sarah.”

“You're very welcome. It’s what I do.” Sage smiled softly and left, but not before saying a goodnight to everyone. Yuki realized that she hadn’t given Sage her name yet. Actually, Sage only knew Sarah’s name. She better tell Sage tomorrow. She sighed and closed her eyes. The exhaustion was catching up now. And so she let herself fall into a dreamless sleep.


	5. A Wake Up Call

When Yuki woke up, she felt very, very groggy. The wolf was like that for a couple of minutes. It seemed that no-one was in the bunker with her except Kevin. A few moments passed by, and Yuki _finally_ felt energized to get up.

She yawned and stretched. Kevin decided at that moment to get up with her. He grabbed the map from under him. “Did you really sleep on that?” Yuki asked, curious. “Yeah, I did.” Kevin confirmed. Yuki wanted to know how Sarah was doing, so she padded to where her friend was. Kevin trailed after her.

Quiet murmurs hit her ears as she neared the main room. The first thing she saw was that her friends were having a discussion with Sage. Erin was up and about now. She was just listening in from the looks of it. Sarah was looking a little better but still unconscious.

“...What did the vipers look like?” Sage asked Nicole. “All black and pure white eyes.” The wolf replied. That made Sage stiffen up. “H-how did you escape them?” Sage again, asked. “They...evaporated I guess.” Nicole had a look that said ‘okay-tell-me-what-kind-of-viper-is-it’. Sage got the message.

It seemed that nobody noticed Yuki and Kevin yet. “Y-you see, the things you encountered are called shadow vipers. They aren’t living and are shadows like what their name states.” “Is this behavior normal for them?” Monte questioned, who was sitting by a corner. Sage shook her head.

“Could I see the map you all have?” “Kevin has it. I’ll go grab it.” Replied Purrlex and he got up. He looks at where Yuki and Kevin were (who stood there for a good minute or so). 

“Oh! You both are awake already! Sorry for not noticing.” Purrlex apologized. A round of ‘good morning’s came at the siblings.

Sage asked Kevin for the map and he handed it over. The cat looks over it, flipping it to the back and front. “I’m assuming you’re going to the Tomb, correct?”

“Huh?” The group looked confused. “You didn’t know where you were going?” Sage questioned. They shook their heads. Erin looks at the group with an amused expression. “The map leads to the Auradea Tomb. That's where the Heart Of Auradea is located.” Sage explains. The group somehow looked even more confused.

A small sigh. “I’m guessing you all don’t know the lore behind this do you?” “Nope.” “No.” “No idea.” “Huh?” “I know a little but not all.” 

“I know the whole thing.” Erin randomly blurts out. Sage looked at Erin. She nodded and said bluntly, “Hi, I’m Erin but you probably know my name already.”

‘Hello’s sounded throughout the room. Sage rubbed her paws together. “Alrighty, so the very start of this land we call Auradea. There was once a phoenix, named Nova. She traveled the world, and discovered Auradea. Covered in darkness, the land was in shambles.”

Overrun by monsters. She brought backup from where she came from. Her friends came and fought the monsters. The whole battle was named ‘Battle of Dark Force’. Eventually, after a few months of war, the Light Force won. The monsters were gone from the land.

"Animals then came to live on the land. Everyone thought the monsters were gone. It wasn’t so. Right after the battle, one of Nova’s friends murdered her."

The group gasped.

“Betrayal at its finest, you might say. Why did he do it? He was blinded by the greed to control the dark.”

“During the battle, he even sheltered the monsters in secret. He ran far, far away. Everyone praised Nova for her good deeds. They were wrapped up in grief after the murder.“

“Before dying Nova had something to give to the land of Auradea. A gem, called the Heart of Auradea. It pushed the dark and corruption from the lands. In Nova’s honor, they animals that resided the land we stand on built the Tomb. They hid the Heart there, away from whoever killed Nova. The Tomb is hidden away carefully. And it seemed as if the Ancients left a map for whoever had a good heart.”

“Soo, us?” The group looked at Sage with wide eyes.

“Yes, all of you.”


	6. Preparations

Yuki was speechless. She didn’t intend for this to become so serious! “So you’re saying that this map appeared out of nowhere and showed itself to us?”

Sage nodded. “Yes, basically.”

“It only does that since there is trouble brewing. The group stared at Sage. Oh boy this was going to take them somewhere. “Then we gotta go to the Tomb, fast!” Yuki jumped. Erin looked at her and kept silent. 

Sage nods. “Alrighty then! We’re going to the Tomb! But first we need supplies.” “From Zoth City?” Purrlex asked. “Yes, Zoth.” Sage spoke up. “Please bring me and Erin with you. I’m the medic here and Erin needs to find her partner.”

“Right. First thing, Sarah.” They all looked to Sarah. She seemed better than last time Yuki saw her, which was before she joined the discussion that morning. Sage padded over to Sarah to take her temperature.

“She’s doing better, she still needs time to heal so please feel free to sleep here as long as you want.” The group gives their thanks again. Nicole walked over to Yuki. “Remember the bet you made a day ago?” Oh. That. “Yes?” “You almost died that day and sooo.”

“Well then I’ll just go out and hunt then.” Yuki dashes out the entrance and into the woods. She sniffed around for any scent that entices her. She caught a scent of a mouse. Purrlex’s favorite.

She stalked forwards, never taking her eyes off the mouse her eyes caught of. Then she pounced. The mouse had no time to react before she bit into its neck and snapped it.

It was tempting to eat it right then and there. She didn’t of course. She brought it back to the hut, only to go back into the woods again. She lightly trotted deeper, where most other animals might reside.

A deer. She was on her own at the moment, and to put it lightly, it was going to be hard to bring it down. She kept in the bushes. The deer was, alone apparently. Weird. Should be with their herd but Yuki caught no scent of any other than this one.

She stalked forward. Closer, c’mon...

_There._

Yuki bursted out of the bushes a few feet away from the deer. The deer was alarmed and took off. Yuki chased it, and through the forest she went. A minute later, Yuki caught up to the deer and lunged for its leg. The deer crumpled and she brought it down. The deer was kicking wildly and trying to get away.

"I'm sorry." Yuki didn’t want it to suffer the pain any longer, so she bit its neck. And the kicking finally stopped. How was she going to drag this one hundred twenty five pound deer back? She never thought of that.

Another lesson learned. Think before you actually do anything. And so she dragged and pushed the deer to the hut. It took about fifteen to twenty minutes or so but she _finally_ got to the river.

"Yuki?" Nicole came out of the hut. "Ni-nicole," Yuki panted. "I brought this whole deer down ans I'm pretty sure everyone's hungry." Nicole widened her eyes and came to help Yuki drag the deer near the entrance of the hut.

(The pink wolf took a nice bath after that). Yuki came back to the hut where evryone was waiting. "Hey, thanks for the deer!" Everyone thanked her for the meal and started to feast. Purrlex somehow caught a mouse for Sage. The cats shared a meal with eachother.

Erin came and tore a chunk of meat off of the deer's thigh. She quietly thanked Yuki and headed back into the hut, out of everyone's sight. Yuki looked at the entrance and, to her suprise, Sarah was awake and trying to walk over to the feast. She also had a limp. Yuki got up abruptly and helped Sarah over.

"You're awake!" Yuki exclaimed. "Yeah, I woke up a few minutes ago." That explained why no-one seemed suprised. "Did Sage or the others catch you up on everything?" "Mhm!" Yuki tore a chunk from the deer and gave it to Sarah. Sarah ate the meat hungrily.

"How long was I out?" Sarah asked while chewing. "Half a day." Yuki replied. "Oh, I was expecting around a day or so." Sometimes, Yuki doesn't know what to reply, like this case. She kept quiet. Nicole trotted up to the two wolves. "Ahem. The quarter of the meal?"

Oh. That. Yuki shoved a quater of her meat towards the waiting wolf. "Thanks." Nicole smirked and walked away happily. Sarah looked confused. "So Nicole and I were having a conversation and I bet her a quater of my meal if I almost die. That conversation happened yesterday." Explained Yuki. "Ohhhh. Makes sense." Sarah looks as if all her questions were answered.

After they all were done eating, the deer carcass was buried. "I think we should travel to Zoth right now." Purrlex spoke up. "But we come back here to rest before going to the Tomb." Sage added. Purrlex looked at her and shrugged.

Everyone agreed and set off. Sarah and Monte had to stay back since Sarah was still recovering. Monte agreed to stay back with Sarah to talke care of her. And so Yuki, Kevin, Nicole, Purrlex, Sage, and Erin traveled to Zoth City.


	7. Zoth City We Come!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So one coin in Auradea is worth one U.S quarter.

“Hey, did anyone bring money?” Yuki asked. Nicole gaped at her. “Did you just realize now?” “Yeah but-” “I have some.” Sage interjected. “Oh thank goodness.” Yuki breathed a sigh of relief. “How did you get the money?” Asked Purrlex. Some members of the group nodded.

“My brother works in the main city and he sends me money every so often. He’s the best brother I could ask for.” “He sounds like a good brother.” Purrlex smiles at Sage. She nodded. “But lately he hasn’t been sending me money. I think he’s on an expedition right now.”

“Wait what's his job?” Yuki asked. “I can’t really define it, I’ll be honest. He’s...he goes on journeys and collects and sells exotic things.” Sage explained. “Ohhh. That sounds like a nice job.” Sage nodded again.

The group arrived at the outskirts of Zoth. “Alright so maybe we should split up? Six animals traveling with each other...Just maybe we could get stuff done faster is what I’m saying.” Purrlex said.

“Sounds nice.” Yuki agreed. “I’ll go with Nicole. Is that okay?” ”Yeah I’m fine with that.” Nicole agreed. “I’m going with Sage if that's alright.” Purrlex voiced. Sage nodded. Erin looked around. “...”

“Oh wait...Sorry Erin.” 

Erin backed away from Kevin. Kevin looked dejected.

“Erin you wanna...?” “No. I’m going alo…” Her voice trailed off. _Why?_ Yuki thought. “GABE?!” Everyone pinned their ears back of how loud Erin shouted. An orange nine-tailed fox with red eyes looked up from where he was sniffing. 

“Erin? Erin!” Erin bolts towards ‘Gabe’ and hugs him. “Oh my goodness where were you?” Gabe asked. “I was walking in the forest and I found a snek! I thought it was a boop roop but it was actually a nope rope though and Sage healed me!” Erin jumped excitedly.

Everyone watches the interaction with surprised faces. “Out of character huh?” Nicole muttered to Yuki. “Erin, why did you touch a snake?” “I thought it was a boop roop but it was a nope rope!” “She touched a viper.” Sage corrected Gabe. “I thought it was a good snek!” Gabe widened his eyes. “Do not ever leave me again you hear? And don’t touch a sna-viper for Nova’s sake.”

“M’sorry I didn’t mean to make you mad.” “It’s alright.” Kevin sat on the grass. “Erm, Kevin come join us.” Yuki spoke. Kevin trots up to Yuki and sits in the middle of her and Nicole.

“Err hi, I’m Garbriel. Please call me Gabe. I’m also Erin’s partner in crime.” Gabe introduced himself. _Crime?_ The group thought. “Thanks for taking care of Erin.” Gabe tells Sage. “Okay let's go Erin.” “Wait no I wanna stay with them.” Begs Erin. Gabe looks at Erin. “Are you sure?” Erin nodded.

“Could we tag along with you guys?” Gabe asked. The group looked at each other. “Sure!” Sage replied. “Thank you!” Both Gabe and Erin thanked the group. “So the supplies we need are...Water containers, food, and I guess whatever personal needs you need.” Yuki said.

The group agreed. “Wait, can I have some context to what you need supplies for?” Gabe asks. Sage tells him (I am not writing all that) the reason why they need supplies. 

“Ohhhh! Alright.” “The three of us will get the water containers for everyone.” Nicole vocalized. “Purrlex and I will get the personal needs. Please do tell us what you need and we’ll get them for you.” “Me and Erin will get the food.”

Sage proceeds to give everyone some coins and declares, “We’ll meet back in the middle of the city by the King Allanon statue. See you there!” She padded away with Purrlex. They all said the goodbyes and walked into the city.

“Alright so. Water containers correct? They should be here somewhere.” Nicole spoke and led Yuki and Kevin into the city.


	8. Shopping Spree

Yuki grabbed a map by one of those wooden posts for animals entering the city. Kevin copied her. Nicole looked back at them and just snorted. She went back and took another map and caught up with Yuki and Kevin. “We’re at one of the main entrances. Sooo...Right here.” Nicole pointed at one part of the city map. Yuki and her little brother nodded.

“I spy a survivalist shop here. I’m guessing they sell water containers?” Yuki guessed. “Worth a shot.” Nicole replied. They kept going straight to the King Allanon statue and turned right. Then left. And...There it was. The store sign said ‘Bob’s Survivalist’s Shop’. Another sign said that it was open.

“We’re going in.” They entered the shop and a chime ringed. “Hello, welcome to Bob’s Survivalist’s Shop. Please have a look around. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.” A voice spoke. Yuki turned her head to the left to find a dark green and gold spotted salamander.

“Oh hi! Could I ask if you sell water containers here?” The salamander nodded and hopped off their perch. “I do. Want me to take you three there?” The wolves nodded and followed the amphibian. They went into an aisle where there were pouches hanging on the shelf. “Thanks. Er, don’t question how much we’re going to buy.” The salamander shook his head. Yuki, Nicole, and Kevin each grabbed three pouches. “We’re going to buy these.”

The dark green and gold led them to the counter. “Each one costs four coins. Your total is thirty-six coins.” Nicole handed over the coins. “You want these in a bag?” “Yes, thank you.” Nicole replied. The salamander gave Nicole three bags.

Yuki and Kevin helped Nicole put the containers in the bag. The group then thanks the salamander and padded away from the shop. “So we’re going back to the statue, right?” Yuki asked. Nicole and Kevin nodded.

The three wolves went back the way they came and found the statue. Seemed as if nobody in the other groups was there yet. Yuki and the other two sat on the benches. Yuki finally got a good look around the city. It was busy and many animals were enjoying themselves.

“Man I want some ice cream.” She pouted a little. Nicole shook her head. “Gabe and Erin are getting the food, remember?” “Yeah I do.” Yuki laid her head on her paws.

The child part of Yuki still wanted a treat though. They waited for a few more minutes until Purrlex and Sage showed. They both seemed to have one bag each. They padded up to the three wolves and dropped the bag they carried.

“Woooo finally done shopping for me.” Purrlex sighed and laid down. Sage just sat down. “Now we wait for Gabe and Erin.” They all agreed with Sage. They relaxed for the rest of the time waiting for the two of them to come back to the statue.

Yuki and Kevin played sticks. Kevin won. Finally, Gabe and Erin showed up, carrying four bags of food. “I-” Yuki stuttered. “I don’t think we need _that_ much food.” Sage said.

“I stress eat.” Erin deadpanned. “O-oh.” _Thats a bit unhealthy_. Yuki thought. “Right then! That's all we need and so we’ll go back to the hut. But I wanna do something fun before we do.” Yuki declared. “I kinda want to, too.” Purrlex agreed. “I can’t stop you all and so I won’t mind. Just go back to the hut by…” Sage’s voice trailed off while she looked at the city clock.

  
  


“It’s one twenty-seven right now. We should meet back here by three-fifty. So by four we should be back at the hut. Got it everyone? I’ll watch over the bags.” They all nod. Yuki grinned.

Nicole gave Yuki and Kevin two thirds of the money leftover. She split that up with Kevin to get fifteen coins. Alrighty then. She sent a silent sorry directed at Sage for wasting her money.

Yuki ran off, with her city map and coins towards a random direction to see where she ended up. _Wait._ She did say she wanted ice cream right? She looked at her map. Oh how lucky. She was on the way to an ice cream shop. Nice.

She arrived at the ice cream shop and went up to the counter. “Hi there! How may I help you?” A cockatiel chirped. “Hi! Er, could I order a small sized chocolate ice cream with the cone?” Yuki asked. “Of course!” The little bird replied. They then flapped over to a waiting ferret to tell them the order.

The ferret nods and proceeds to grab a cone and fill it with chocolate ice cream. They handed it over to Yuki. “Thanks!” The ferret nodded and smiled. “That’ll be three coins please!” The bird tweeted. Yuki gave the cockatiel the coins they requested.

“Thank you, have a nice day!” “You too!” Yuki walked out of the ice cream shop happy. She looked at the map. Something caught her eye on it. ‘The Great Game Center’. Yuki decided that that was the next destination she was going to.

She sat on one of the side benches and finished the ice cream. Well then. Time to satisfy the gamer inside her. She went to the game center and widened her eyes.

She walked in. It was a bit loud in there. She went in further to find a crowd. Yuki perked her ears up. She heard...Stomping?

She squeezed herself between the crowd and saw Erin on one of those arrow stomping games. She gasped at the leaderboard. Erin was on it. First place. With the username ‘ArsonistToddlerWithAButcherKnife’. _What?_ “How-” Her statement fell on deaf ears.

The song finished and the winged wolf got the score ‘SS’. One hundred percent correct. Holy Nova. She gaped at the score. _How in Auradea did she get that?_

The crowd dispersed after that. “Erin? How-” “I’m a gamer.” “I was going to ask where’d you come from.” “My mother?” Yuki kept silent. “I went a different way from you and came across this.” “Oh.” “See you at the statue then.” Erin walked away.

Well then. She had twelve coins left but she'll save some to give back to Sage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is fantasy. Frick the fact that wolves get poisened when they eat chocolate lol


	9. Hurry Up!

Yuki looked around at the games. There were so many to choose from! She circled around inside the arcade. There was a ticket shop in the corner. One game caught her eye. It had a large screen, and in front of it was a huge drum. She went over and inspected it.

There was a holder for the sticks by the drum. Yuki inserted one coin into a slot. An intro started and along with some music. It showed how to play the game and said to pick up the sticks. She did.

It also showed all the notes and how to react to them. The screen went to the main menu where you could pick any song to play. Yuki picked an easy song that had one of the lowest difficulties.

 _Here we go_. She thought. The song starts playing and Yuki starts hitting the drum with the sticks. This goes for a minute until the end results show. Her score? B. _Good enough I guess._

Some tickets started whirring out of a slot. Yuki picked those up. She counted six tickets in total. The wolf went around the arcade playing some other games until she got twenty-seven tickets and eight coins left.

Yuki went to the ticket shop to find what she could get. Most things didn't intrest her or were no use to her. Yuki noticed a cube with different buttons of some sort. She drew closer and saw that it was a fidget cube.

It cost twenty-five tickets. She brought it to the counter where a linx sat. "Hi there! Could I buy this?" Yuki asked. The lynx nodded. "Mhm." Yuki handed the gadget over and the linx requested the tickets needed to buy it. The wolf gave the cat twenty-five tickets.

"Thanks for buying, have a nice day." The linx said. "You too." Yuki replied. She had two tickets left and didn't need them. So she gave both to a bear cub (who thanked her many times over).

Yuki walked out of the arcade and looked at her map. She had no idea where to go next. She then looked at a clock. It read 2:01. Yuki had around two more hours to mess around. She began in a random direction to find anything that interested her.

She somehow bumped into Monte on her way. _Wait._ Wasn't he supposed to be in the hut with Sarah? Then she saw Sarah beside him. Oh. "Hi Yuki! So I found this and I wanted to give someone this bandanna. Would you take it?"

"I would! Thank you!" Yuki exclaimed happily. Monte gave her the bandanna. "Your welcome." "Can I ask why you're in this city with Sarah?" Yuki asked, Sarah beside both her and Monte. "I did say I had to look after Sarah, right? Sarah thought of that and dragged me here." He explained.

"Oh. Well then I'll-" Yuki was cut off from a, "Yuki! Monte! Sarah!" The three looked towards the sound, finding Kevin running towards them. "Purrlex is hosting a Laser Tag match. You want to come?" Kevin asked. Then he got a look of, 'how-and-why-is-Sarah-and-Monte-here?' Yuki told him and he nodded in understanding.

"So are you all coming?" The three wolves nodded and followed Kevin. They arrived at the place named 'Laser Tag'. Seemed that everyone in the group was there.

They turned confused looks at Monte and Sarah. Monte explained his situation. Sage didn't seem to approve. "Sarah, its probably for the best if you stay back and watch the match." The calico said. "Awww why?" Sarah knew the answer already but still questioned Sage. The cat looked at Sarah's limp. Sarah pouted and sat down.

"I am not playing along with Sarah, and one ticket costs four coins. To the seven of you that are playing, the total costs twenty-eight coins. Do you have enough for that?" Sage asked.

"I have eight coins." "Eleven coins." "Seven coins for me." "I'll just give two coins, but that's not all I have." Twenty-eight coins. Perfect. They went in and paid for their tickets. They also had to pick code names. Yuki picked 'Yuki97103'. There was a round still going so they were just waiting in the main room.

The round finally ended, and a group of animals came from a gate. The employees announced who won first place and so on. Then the last round animals left. It was finally _their_ turn.


	10. Laser Tag...Gone Wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oml the amount of mistakes in the past chapters dgbhdwuiqyjmi  
> I need to fix those and I will
> 
> Also POV swaps are here!
> 
> -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
> 
> This signals a POV swap. ^

_This is gonna be fun._ Yuki thought. A light blue bald-eagle flew up to them and introduced themselves. “Hello there! I’m Oliver. Please follow me into the intermission room.” They followed him (except Sarah and Sage) into a circular room.

“The rules are simple. Number one, no running. Number two, no climbing either. Number three, do not cover your laser sensor on your chest.” Oliver noticed Erin. “And um, don’t fly.” Erin nodded.

“Please do tell me if any of you have any health problems like asthma or epilepsy.” The group shook their heads. “Alright, when this gate opens up to the suit up room, please choose a suit with a green light over it. Also, pick up a laser to scan your tag.” _Tag?_

“Here are your tags.” The eagle hands a tag to each and everyone of them. “Is it allowed to team up?” Gabe asked. Oliver nodded. The gate in front of the group opened up, and they filed in. Yuki picked a suit with a green light closest to her. She shoved it on. Then used a laser to scan her tag.

The tiny screen on the back of the laser read, ‘Hello, Yuki97103’. “After you’ve suited up and scanned your tag, give the tags to me.” Oliver’s voice sounded somewhere near Yuki.

Yuki looked around her and spotted the eagle. She trotted up to him and handed over her tag. She waited for her friends to finish up. Finally, they were all set. “Alright. Head into the arena and wait for when your screen says the game starts. Then you can open fire. Come back to the gate when the match is over. Everyone have fun!”

The gate to the arena opened, and Yuki stepped in.

The first thing Yuki did was to get far away from everyone. She wasn’t pairing up to anyone. She honestly didn’t care much for the no running rule. Yuki wasn’t full on running, just trotting really fast. She ducked around a corner to find some stairs leading up to a tower.

Yuki went to the top of the tower, where she could (possibly) snipe someone. At least, she hoped that the laser could reach that far. She spotted Nicole hiding behind a wall. That was her target when the game starts.

Suddenly, the screen on the laser started a countdown to when the match starts.

‘3’

‘2’

‘1’

‘Go!’

Yuki immediately aimed and shot at Nicole. ‘Shot Nicolepetcat!’ Huh. So they did shoot far. Nicole whipped around trying to find who shot her. She didn't and ran out of Yuki’s sight. Yuki looked around to find anyone to shoot.

She spotted Gabe and shot him. ‘Shot RogueOutlawBoi!’ Yuki ducked out of sight. _Let the game begin indeed._

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Gabe and Erin ducked into a corner. ‘Yuki97103 shot you!’ Okay then. “Erin, Yuki shot me.” “Oof. Alright you’re gonna wreck havoc right? And show your abilities?” Gabe nodded. “Who should I be...?” Erin thought for a moment. “Yuki. She seems like the one to team up with others.”

“Alrighty.” And then smoke whipped around Gabe. Erin waited. **Yuki** stepped out from the smoke. Erin bobbed her head excitedly and giggled, “Gabe, you need to take off your leg wrap. And your eyes are still red.” **Yuki** realised this and blinked. His eyes changed from red to purple. He took off his leg wrap.

“Better?” “Mhm! Time to wreak havoc!” **Yuki** nodded. “So I just team up with random people and just betray them after?” Erin confirmed this. “Alright.” And so **Yuki** went towards a random direction to scout for others.

He spotted Kevin. “Hey, Kevin.” Kevin looked behind him and pointed his laser at **Yuki**. Kevin raised his eyes quizzically. “Um, I want to team up with you.” Gosh dang it that sounded sketchy. He hoped that this is how the siblings talked. “I thought you were going off on your own? I mean, you shot me already.” Oh. So the real Yuki already shot her own little brother.

“Sorry, I changed my mind.” “Well then come on.” **Yuki** followed Kevin. Kevin looked around for anybody he could beam at. **Yuki** silently aimed his laser and shot at Kevin. ‘Shot A mom!’ ‘RogueOutlawBoi shot you!’ **Yuki** immediately hid his laser. Kevin whipped around. “Gabe shot me, come under here.” Kevin motioned for **Yuki** to get under some structure.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Meanwhile, the real Yuki was having fun just sniping the others. She had already been shot at twice. One from Monte and another from Purrlex. She was still on the tower. Maybe she should get down on ground level since some places had fog too thick. She spotted Kevin all alone and shot at him. ‘Shot A mom!’

She ran down the stairs and tripped.

“Hey you alright?” Some voice asked. “I’m fine!” There was nothing after that. Yuki liked that her friends asked her if she was okay or whatsoever. She went down the stairs, slower this time. She finally made it to ground level. And was shot at.

‘A mom shot you!’ “Yuki you traitor!” Huh? She didn’t know why Kevin said that, since she hasn’t done anything and never promised anything before this round started. She hid behind a box. Weird. She stayed that way for a minute. All clear. She went hunting for her friends.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

 **Yuki** was having fun. Somehow after shooting Kevin again, the real Yuki shot him. Crap. He ran. He heard Kevin yell, “Yuki you traitor!” **Yuki** ran towards a direction and managed to find Nicole.

“Nicole?” Nicole turned towards **Yuki** . “Oh hey.” Nicole seemed confused as to why **Yuki** was there in front of her. “Could I team up with you?” The wolf somehow looked even more confused. “You shot me once and you're telling me you wanna team up?” Dang, the real Yuki was on a roll.

“Yes? I promise I won't shoot you.” Nicole took that and walked forwards. “Come on, we got some cowards to shoot.” **Yuki** followed Nicole. And shot the wolf. ‘Shot Nicolepetcat!’ “Why.” **Yuki** put his laser away prior to Nicole looking backwards. “Gabe shot me, let's find him and beam him.” She didn’t know that he was _behind_ her.

‘Match ending in 5 minutes!’ Oh. He still had Purrlex and Monte to torment in his mind. While Nicole was walking, he slipped away.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Yuki had shot more people. She had been shot more too. ‘Match ending in 3 minutes!’ Ah, alright. It felt like she was playing for 5 minutes though. She quietly ran through the fog. ‘Match ending in 2 minutes!’ She spotted Erin hiding and aiming. She shot Erin. ‘You shot ArsonistToddlerWithAButcherKnife!’ Again, same name? She did not question it. Erin then hid behind the structure she was at. ‘Match ending in 1 minute!’

  
Yuki ran towards who knows where. She found Purrlex and shot him. ‘Shot BeeppoopBococo!’ ‘Match ended! Head back to the gate!’ “Yuki, why did you run from me after you paired up with me?” “I didn’t pair up with anyone?” Purrlex gave her a confused look. Yuki headed towards the gate.


	11. Confusion At Its Max

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! Crying in this chapter!
> 
> If you don't wanna read that I suggest going to the end notes for the summary and stuff you missed.

Yuki headed out of the gate and into the main lobby. “Yuki.” She turned around to find Kevin, Nicole, Purrlex, and Monte looking at her. “?” She turned around. “Why did you shoot at me after pairing up?” Kevin asked. “You ran after pairing up with me, why?” Nicole questioned Yuki.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! I was alone the whole time.” **Lies.** Yuki looked at each of them. She was very, very confused. “You ran after pairing up with me, and you’re saying you were alone the _whole_ time?” Yuki backed up. Her friends (?) came closer until Yuki hit her back against a wall.

Tears threatened to spill over. “I don’t know what you _mean_ !” Yuki cried. The 4 wolves loomed over Yuki. **Lies. Lies.** Yuki looked up at her friends (?). The dams finally broke and she cried out, “I was _fucking alone_ the whole time!” She screeched.

Sage and Sarah stood with Oliver a few feet away. Oliver whispered something to Sage and she nodded. She came over and spoke to Yuki (who now has tears spilling from her eyes). “Yuki, Oliver said that we could use the intermission room, you want to get in there?” Yuki nodded meekly and she stood on wobbly legs.

Sarah was by her side and was helping her stand up and walk over to the room. The whole group followed. They reached the intermission room and Oliver gave the remote to open the gates to Sage. Oliver flapped out of the room after that.

Yuki whimpered. Sarah, being who she is, sat by Yuki. Sage looked at Kevin, Nicole, Monte, and Purrlex. She looked disappointed. The four looked ashamed and horrified they'd done this to the little bean. “I-I’m sorry, but _why_?”

“...” Erin stood a few feet away from Yuki, with an unidentifiable expression.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Gabe stood there looking at the scene. _I did this. I made Yuki cry._ He thought, horrified with himself. “I, um, I’m sorry.” He apologized. “I made this happen.” Yuki looked at him with still leaking eyes. “I want to show you all something.” Sage looked at him with an expression that said, ‘please-not-now’.

He then proceeded to shift into the form of Yuki. The group (with the exception of Erin) stared wide eyed at **Yuki** . “I am a shapeshifter.” Jaws dropped. “A _what_?” Everyone was speechless after that. Even Sage, the usually calm one.

“Close your mouths, it's not that impressive.” Erin said. The real Yuki got up, Sarah by her side. Both wolves got up to Gabe. Yuki had stopped crying and looked at her duplicate. “Y-your saying that you were playing as me in the match?” She asked. “Yes, and I’m very sorry for that. Please blame me instead of anyone else, this was my fault.”

Oliver popped in and apologized. He gave Sage the ranks and results of the match. Then the eagle backed out. “It’s alright Gabe. Everyone makes mistakes and I don’t blame you for that. And plus, I’m fine now.” Yuki sniffed and gave him a wobbly smile. **Yuki** dipped his head. “Thank you.”

**Yuki** shifted back into the 9-tailed fox form. “Gabe.” He turned to Sage. “Here.” She hands him the results. He got first place. Yuki was second. And so on.

**Leaderboard:**

RogueOutlawBoi - 1st

Yuki97103 - 2nd

ArsonistToddlerWithAButcherKnife - 3rd

monteman365 - 4th

A mom - 5th

BeeppoopBococo - 6th

Nicolepetcat - 7th

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Yuki was still a bit unstable inside. She forgave her friends. It was fine. “Should we go back to the hut now? I mean, we’re all done here. At least I think?” Sage voiced her opinion. The group nods and heads out of the intermission room.

Sage picked up the bags with the help of Nicole and Purrlex. “It’s two-fourty three right now…” Sage murmured. “Um, Erin?” Erin turned towards Yuki. “Here, I thought you might like this.” She gave Erin the fidget cube she got. Erin actually looked happy and said a thank you to her.

Erin started to mash at the buttons.

And they all walked back to to Sage's hut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically Gabe is a shapeshifter


	12. Rest Well

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's just fluff before the journey (^‿^✿)
> 
> Also no art this chapter. Sorry!

The group arrived at the hut. Nicole, Purrlex, and Sage dropped off the supplies by a corner in the hut. Gabe just looked around the hut curiously. “We’re going to go to the tomb tomorrow. For now, you all can rest. Yuki come here.” Announced Sage.

Yuki padded over to Sage. “I want to give you some tea to drink since…” Yuki nodded. Sage went to get some pack of some kind of herbs. She went out the entrance and got some river water.

The cat came back and got a lighter from a bag in a corner. Yuki sat down. Sage brought river water, the bag of herbs, the lighter, and some sticks. Erin came over and looked at the lighter.

Sage put the sticks down on a patch of bare ground outside. Yuki and somehow Erin followed. Sage grabbed the lighter and was about to set fire to the sticks but, “Sage?”

The cat looked back towards Erin and Yuki. “Are you going to set the sticks on fire?” The winged wolf asked. Sage nodded. “Could I set them on fire instead…?”

Yuki was uncharacteristically quiet. “Sure? Just don’t set the whole place on fire though.” Sage gave the lighter to Erin. Erin looked delighted and flicked on the lighter. Then set the sticks on fire.

She handed it back to Sage. “Thanks for letting me set those on fire.” Erin murmured, and walked back into the hut. Sage and Yuki waited for the water to partly boil.

They waited a little while and Sage took it off of the flames. She tested the temperature. Then she added the bag of herbs. “It’s chamomile tea.” Sage said to Yuki.

Yuki said her thanks to Sage and drank a little of it. The tea was sweet and light. “It helps you relax and relieve anxiety.” “Oh, thanks Sage. It tastes nice.” Sage nodded and smiled. Few minutes later, Yuki finished the tea and washed the cup.

She gave it back to Sage. Meanwhile everyone was messing around outside. Erin, Sarah, Sage, and Yuki stayed inside the hut.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

“Hey guys I found a bug!” “Ew Monte get that away from me!” Nicole took one look of that bug Monte held and bolted away. Monte chased her. He dropped the bug. “Aww man.”

“Yay you finally dropped it now I can be near you again.” Nicole lightly snarked. Monte found the bug he dropped and picked it up again. “NICOLE COME HERE!” Nicole widened her eyes and ran again

Erin came outside just when Nicole exclaimed, “Monte has a bug, run!” Erin snickered at that and watched the group’s shenanigans. Monte chased everyone around with a bug while saying, “You cannot run from me!”

Then the bug flew off. Monte sighed. Everyone else he was chasing before was relieved. He went looking for another bug. Kevin tackled him and down both went.

“Kevin you know he’s bigger than your twig body.” Nicole said. Still, the two wolves tussled around. Monte pinned Kevin to the ground. “Ha.” “Let me up.” Kevin whined. He did.

They did this for an hour or so. They then snacked on some of the food Erin and Gabe got. Erin looked disappointed that she had less food to stress eat on.

Eventually, it got dark outside. "Hey, do any of you want s'mores?" Gabe asked. The group agreed. Gabe took the chocolate, graham crackers, and the marshmallow outside. Erin grabbed the lighter (yet again).

Monte grabbed sticks and formed some into a pile outside. Then he gave one to everyone. Erin lit the pile of sticks on fire. Everyone speared their marshmallows and held them above the fire.

Sarah somehow set her marshmallow on fire. She ran to the river where she dunked it in. She came back partly drenched. Sage went and grabbed a towel while Nicole just snickered. Sarah dried herself off with Sage's towel. Yuki watched the whole exchange while eating her s'more.

The s'mores, to say the least, were absolutely delicious. It was getting too dark, and they all cleaned up. With bellies full, they headed into the bunker to settle down. Yuki laid down first. The group silently decided that they would sleep with the pink wolf. They formed a pile and slept for the next day to come.


	13. Set Off

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \-----------------  
> The thing above this text means a timeskip.

The next morning, Yuki woke up to everyone sleeping around her. _When did everyone sleep in a pile with each other?_ She wondered. There wasn't any light coming from the entrance of the bunker. It must be still dark outside. There wasn’t any use being up when everyone else is sleeping right now.

She fell asleep again.

\-----------------

Something prodded at Yuki’s side. She yawned and rolled over, hitting a wall of fur in the process. Someone yelped and the wall of fur moved. Yuki cracked open one eye.

Apparently, the wall of fur was Nicole. Yuki muttered an apology to her and looked in the direction of the prodding. It was Kevin. “Yuki, everyone is awake.” She twitched her ears. “Doesn’t mean I have to wake up with them though. Is anyone doing anything?” Yuki asked.

“Preparing to go to the tomb, yeah.”

Yuki scrambled upwards from where she was laying before. Nicole had gone upstairs already while Kevin and Yuki chatted. Kevin walked upstairs while Yuki followed him behind.

There was some commotion in the main room. Animals went from one place to another, grabbing supplies and others. Sage saw both siblings and beckoned them over. “Good morning you two. Could you both help pack the foods into that leather bag over there?”

“Sure.” Yuki hauled the bag over to Kevin, who was standing near the food. Yuki held the opening agape while her little brother shoved them in. After it was filled, Yuki had to rearrange the items since they were all squished against each other.

Kevin abandoned her while she did that. Finally done with that task, Yuki stood up and left the bag in a corner. Sage had a medium-small sized patchel beside her.

_Probably some herbs._ Yuki thought. Erin was still asleep while Gabe carried her on his back and packed utensils. Nicole walked around and gave everyone one water pouch, filled with water. Yuki thanked the aquamarine wolf.

After everything was set and ready to go, Sage spoke while looking at the map. “Alright. Everyone ready to go to the tomb?” Heads nod and some voices agree. Sage turned around and made the signal to follow her. They did.

\-----------------

They were nearing the huge tree on the map. Even from here, Yuki could see it towered over the normal trees. Her legs were tired, and she wanted to get to it faster so she could rest. The group finally reached the destination.

Yuki flopped down and stayed like that for a few minutes. “Hot tourist destination number two!” Yuki cocked her head around and found Purrlex who exclaimed that.

“You’re still keeping that up?” Monte asked. Purrlex nodded. “Oh, well then, here we have the tall and sturdy pine tree. Who makes the trees around it look like midgets!” Purrlex violently snorted air out his nostrils.

Some others shared the laugh (including Yuki). Sarah was inspecting the area around the tall pine, finding some interesting things around it (to her). The group seemed to get that they rest a few minutes, then continue on the way.

Yuki chewed a granola bar, then drank a little from the water pouch around her neck. Sage was still looking at the map. Yuki looked at the pine. She wondered why it was taller than the trees around it. And why was it the only pine in the area anyways?

She didn’t question it after those thoughts. It was nature, after all. “Everyone rested?” Heads nod, voices spoke. Sage dipped her head and pointed northwest from herself. “We’re going that way, to the next destination.”

The next destination was just an ‘X’ on the map. Yuki didn’t know what to expect there. Few minutes later, they reach there. Yuki looked around. _It’s just a clearing. I don’t see a tomb either, unless there's a switch somewhere here?_

She sniffed. Nothing smells out of the ordinary either. Sarah, being her, padded around, upturning some rocks and and twigs. She weaved around the trees.

Sarah then stopped at one rock in particular. Then pushed at it.

What she found got her excited. She pawed at the dirt covered item, then proceeds to bring it over to the group.

“Look at what I found guys!” Sarah flattened the item out, finding that the item is a piece of paper. They all crowd around it. Sage picked it up and looked at it carefully. “It’s another map…” The cat murmured.

It showed a cave (at least, that's what Yuki thinks it is) with rainbow colored splotches at the entrance. Then a waterfall after that. And then a dull-brown patch at the end.

“I assume that’s the tomb at the end?” Nicole cocked her head. Sage nodded. “Yes, that's the tomb alright.”


	14. When Some Crystals Try To Kill You

“That, whatever it is, should be this way.” Sage pointed to the west of her. The next destination seemed interesting (compared to a rock or a tree). The ragtag group went that way, and soon found themselves at the entrance of a cave. Some lights came from the dark, all different colors.

Sarah’s eyes widened. “Either that’s artificial or real.” Nicole spoke. “We’re about to find out if they’re real or not.” Gabe stated. Yuki hummed in agreement.

They went in, prepared for what’s to come. And what was making those lights? Crystals. If anything, Sarah’s eyes somehow widened even bigger. She ran around, prodding at some. Yuki touched one, and it lit up brighter. She squinted at it.

Yeah, probably natural. She didn’t know how or why these things were glowing, as she didn’t know much about science on nature. It was beautiful here, at least.

There was a ledge, with a light green crystal jutting out from it. Yuki climbed up it, and was at the edge of the crystal. Everyone could see her paw pads from under the crystal.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Gabe learned something new that day about Yuki. She had two different colors on her paw pads (toe beans). Purple and light purple. He stored that information in the back of his mind, for when he shifts into her again.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Yuki heard some cracks, and looked down at the crystal she was on. It was cracking.

She widened her eyes in mild fear and backpedaled onto normal cave rock again.

“Guys! Get out from under this crystal it’s cracking!” The rest of the group under the structure _scrambled_. Sadly, Kevin wasn’t fast enough and the crystal fell, on top of his tail. A horrible crack sounded.

And then he _screamed_. Yuki pinned her ears back and got down from the ledge. She gazed at Kevin horror and guilt-stricken. His tail was still under the crystal. Yuki estimated that the thing was around seventy-five pounds or so.

_OhfuckohfuckohfuckohFUCK_ . She thought. Yuki rolled the crystal off of Kevin. And oh Nova the _blood_. “I’m so sorry!” The pink wolf choked out. Sage came running towards the two.

The cat said nothing as she inspected Kevin’s tail. “Definitely a bone broke, that’s for sure.” Sage noticed a bone breaking the skin. She drew her mouth in a straight line. This was going to be hard for her.

Yuki let Sage do her work. She stood miserably in the corner, shaming herself for doing this. Gabe padded quietly over and tapped Yuki on the shoulder with one tail.

“Hey, Kevin’ll be alright.” Yuki looked at the nine-tailed fox. “I’m sure of it.” He smiled at her. Erin came over and gave Yuki her fidget cube. “Thank you both.” Erin dipped her head as she melted back into Gabe’s shadow. Yuki was never so focused on one gadget in her life.

She wanted to run from the pain, the agony of life. She looked to where Sage and her little brother was. Kevin looked a little better and let Sage do her healing. She smeared paste gently on Kevin’s tail and bandaged it. Then she grabbed a stick and bandaged that with the tail.

Kevin let out a tiny whine. “I know, I’m sorry it’s uncomfortable or that it hurts. And, don’t move it. Or try not to, at least.” Kevin nods. Then there were cracking sounds. The group looks around. One crystal beside Yuki retracts into the ground. _The fu-?_ Yuki did not have time to finish that thought before the crystal shot upwards, towards her.

Yuki barely dodged that. She noticed the other crystals retracting into the ground. And then shooting back up again, at the other members of the group.

“RUN!” Someone screeched. That was enough for them to bolt. Yuki dodged one crystal. Then another. And then on the third one she cut her shoulder. She gasped and ran harder.

A little blood was now leaking down her leg. She didn’t care whatsoever at the moment.  _ How long is this cave? _ Yuki thought. She couldn't see the ending of this Nova-forsaken place.

More crystals came her way. Yuki was mostly sure everyone had at least one scratch. Left, right, left, the way out went. This was way too confusing. Plus she had attacks to avoid.

There was a fork. An actual freaking fork on the way out. Yuki took right, along with Monte, Sage, and Nicole. All the others went to the left. Gosh-dangit. Yuki wishes she told them to all go to the right. Well it’s too late for that.

All she hopes is that the rest are okay and that they don’t die. Relentless attacks after attacks, Yuki prays again to Nova that no-one dies. She didn’t know a lot of medical things but, how was she still up and running? Even with a bleeding shoulder.

Adrenaline probably. One crystal knocked her off her paws. Yuki skidded on the ground and she hissed in pain. Nicole hauls her up and nudges her. Yuki kept running.

At last, she saw light. Yuki put on an extra burst of speed. The other three behind her fought to catch up. She then saw something that made her yip in delight. The other five that got seperated came into view.

They all bursted into the forest, out of the cave. Sarah face-planted into the earth. Nicole snorts in laughter while Purlex helps her up. Kevin looked miserable. Nicole looked mostly fine. Sage had a few scratches here and there.

Purrlex has one or two scratches from what Yuki could tell. Erin had a medium-sized gash on her hind leg. She wasn’t going to name every scratch. Everyone looked beat-up basically.

Sage wasn’t gonna have a good time treating everyone and herself. Yuki turned around to look at the exit of the cave. The crystals stopped shifting around after they left.

She wasn’t going to be surprised if curses were what caused the crystals to start attacking. There were dragons and phoenixes. Anything was possible here.

Sage was now treating everyone with her herbs. Yuki was now feeling the pain everywhere on her body. Especially her shoulder. She screamed inwardly. Pain sucks.

She sighed and went to give Erin her fidget cube back. This was harsher than she thought.


	15. The Falls

They trudged towards the next landmark. Everyone’s injuries were patched up by Sage. Nicole muttered, “I swear, if this waterfall drowns us or something I am going to scream.” “In your afterlife.” Gabe added. Nicole just looked at him and said nothing. 

Soon, they heard the roar of the waterfall. Yuki looked upwards, towards the sound of the place. A cliff, with huge amounts of water rolling off it. They were getting pretty close now. 

The group made it there, and wow, the place was beautiful. It took Yuki’s breath away. It was a clearing, with pines surrounding it. The waterfall splashed into a pond, where a river ran out of.

It offered a clear view of the sky. The waterfall was pretty loud. Sarah couldn’t suppress a gasp. Her face lit up. “This is even better than that cave!” Someone said. “Hot tourist destination number four!” Purrlex meowed.

Sarah ran around. Yuki lapped at the pond’s water. Cold and refreshing, just how she liked it. Many others copied what Yuki was doing. Yuki sometimes went overboard on things, like what she did now. She jumped into the pond.

Not before taking her water container off first though. Yuki now wished that she splashed herself with the water first. It was really cold. She swam up and showed her head to everyone else.

She now felt her shoulder sting a little. Dangit. She forgot about that for one second. Yuki dragged herself out of the water. Sage sighed near her. Maybe when Yuki’s shoulder and scratches were healed, she could come back here and take a dip in the water.

She shook herself. While in the process, she splashed everyone in a meters (or two) range. Someone yelped and padded backwards. “Oh you’re on!” Yuki looked to her left and found Monte looking deviously at her.

Monte jumped into the water and Yuki followed suit. Shaking herself was pointless. She heard one splash after her. And another. Under the water, Yuki looked to where the splashes were coming from. Gabe and Erin. Oh boy.

Yuki shot upwards to shove Gabe under her. Red and black flashed in her vision and something pushed her aside (rather a bit harshly). Mild stinging on her shoulder reminded her the wound was still there. She was gonna regret this later.

Yuki needed air, and she went up to the surface to breathe. Some of the others that weren’t in the water simply didn’t seem to mind. Some watched. Some were tending to their wounds.

Water splashed at Yuki. It was Monte. She splashed back. Then Erin and Gabe joined them back. They all messed around, under the waterfall. While Yuki was exploring, she found a cave behind the wall of water. It seemed to have a dead end deeper in. It didn’t slope down into the ground, and had a flat floor.

She already had a bad time with one, so she was sceptical if this one was going to kill her. She was shivering now, and her shoulder _hurt_. Sage shook her head at Yuki, Monte, Gabe, and Erin.

“You four knew that swimming after being injured wasn’t okay.” The calico lectured while rewrapping some bandages. “There. Please just rest now, we’ll be going to the tomb _tomorrow_.” Sage announced for all to hear. The four shivering animals in front of Sage sighed inwardly.

The food for lunch was chicken alfredo. Nicole got out the pot while Purrlex got sticks to burn. Sage grabbed bowls and forks for everyone. Yuki gathered some water. Erin got the lighter. Gabe gave Erin a look that said, ‘don’t-burn-down-the-whole-forest’.

Erin returned him a look that said, ‘no-promises’. They finally set up everything and Erin set the sticks on fire. They waited for the noodles to boil. While that was happening, Erin grabbed more sticks to light up. She set those on fire and got a small pot to make the cream. Gabe grabbed the lighter and put (yeeted) it back in a bag.

Erin poured some water into the pot and set it on the burning sticks. She then emptied the powder into the water. The noodles boiled and the sauce was being made.

Kevin threw the pre-cooked chicken into the pot that was boiling the noodles. The chicken alfredo was done, and Sage served a portion to everyone. They all ate happily.

Later, it became dusk. Yuki told Sage about the cave she found behind the waterfall. Sage seemed to think for a moment and approved the fact that they were sleeping in that cave. “Do we have to get wet when we head in there?”

“Oh. Imma just check.” Yuki ran to the waterfall, careful not to get fully wet. She saw an opening, a crack where everyone could get in without getting wet.

Yuki went back to report to Sage. Sage told everyone about the cave. Some still looked untrusting about a cave. They head in, one-by-one. The waterfall echoed around.

Some hold their breaths to see if this would kill them. The rocky inside didn’t make a move. “I sure hope this thing doesn’t kill us when we’re sleeping.” muttered Nicole.

“I really hope not.” Yuki replied. They settled down, as it was now dark outside. Sage grabbed a blanket while everyone else huddled in a puppy pile. The cat then threw it over everyone and quickly shuffled under it.

“Goodnight everyone. Sleep well for tomorrow.” ‘Goodnight’s went around, and Yuki fell asleep, lulled by the sound of everyone’s breathing.


	16. The Tomb Of Auradea

Yuki woke up to a ray of sunlight hitting her eyes.  _ Ouch. What a way to wake up _ . Light was reflected everywhere in the cave, having water patterns.  _ The beauty makes up for it though. _ She thought. 

Slowly but surely, everyone woke up. “Oh wow, what a beautiful sight to see when you wake.” Sage yawned. Some hummed their agreement. “Also, I do have an announcement to make.” All turned to look at the calico.

“Some of you will stay here while some will go to the tomb. Including me.” The room exploded into disagreement with Sage. “Some of you have major injuries, do you want it to be worse?” The room quieted.

“Monte, Gabe, Purrlex, and Nicole will go to the tomb.” The ones who weren’t named except Sage dipped their heads sadly. “Could I swap with someone?” Gabe asked. Sage blinked. “Uhm, sure. Who do you want to swap places with?”

The shapeshifter looked around and landed his eyes on Sarah. He beckoned her forward. “Sarah. I’ll switch with her.” Sage nodded. “We’ll all eat breakfast first. Come on.” They shuffled out of the cave.

All ate some bread and drank some water for breakfast. Some wanted more, so they ransacked the food bag. Erin looked even more disappointed. After everyone was full, Sage said to wait for a little bit before traveling. The four who were going filled their water containers.

Yuki thought of something.  _ What if I just follow the traveling group secretly? _ She kept that thought. Then, it was time for the animals that were going to leave. “We’ll come back of course!” Sarah barked out.  _ Of course _ .

They said their goodbyes for now and left with half of the food. Sage then looked over the ones who were injured. She rewrapped bandages and put some pastes on.

Now Yuki waits for when Sage isn't looking at her. Sage left to gather some more herbs nearby.  _ Finally _ . Yuki crept towards the place where the travelers left. She looked left and right. Then she trotted briskly out of the clearing. But not before she was stopped by Erin.

“Where are you going?”

Yuki nearly jumped when she heard that behind her. She turned around. “Oh hi Erin. I’m just...You know, taking a walk.” “What a terrible liar you are.”  _ Oh shoot _ . “I already know that you’re going to follow the group that left.”

Yuki sighed in defeat. She nodded. “That's what I thought.” “Are you going to tell Sage?”

“No. I was planning to follow them too.”

“You wanna come with me?” Yuki uneasily offered.

“Sure.”

“Well then uh, come on!” Yuki raced away, not looking back. Feet pounded the ground behind her. “Why can’t you just…” Yuki looked backwards and suddenly, she heard a whoosh and was pulled upwards. She almost screamed.

Yuki craned her neck upwards and saw Erin beating her wings and carrying her. Yuki choked. “Huh?!”

“I have wings you know.”

“Yes but-! They can easily spot us you know?”

“I know that, and I’m a silent flyer. I’m keeping out of their range of sight too.” Erin stated.

They both were silent after that. It wasn’t that Yuki disliked Erin or anything. Just, she was...antisocial and well, a lot of other words Yuki couldn’t explain. She wishes Erin was a bit more social around the group. Like her interacting with Gabe. She inwardly sighed. Yuki couldn't change the nature of anyone.

The two heard wings beating in the distance. They both look backwards to see something flying away from them two. It was bleeding.

What in Auradea was that? It looked like a wyvern but...warped and like it came from the depths of Dykfex. Nova knows if that  _ thing _ was going to kill them both. Yuki sweated and was screaming inside. “We’re just going to ignore  _ that? _ We need to get away, fast!” Yuki half-whispered.

Erin kept on beating her wings until she spoke, “Yeah. Of course.” Yuki gulped. Erin sped up, while the thing became smaller and smaller. She spotted the tiny dots of the traveling group from where she was at. Erin spied the four and banked right quickly.

They were out of the other group's sight, but the two could see them. “We have to reveal ourselves when they get to the tomb.” Yuki said out loud. Erin made no comment.

The warped wyvern thing was long gone by now.

The travelers stopped. Erin hovered. And then Monte, Sarah, Purrlex, and Nicole got swallowed by the abyss. Erin, without warning, dived downwards. Yuki shut her eyes.

And it was all silent after that.

\-----------------

Yuki groaned. She blinked open her eyes to find herself in darkness. “Hello?” Something shuffled. Her eyes flicked from one place to another nervously.

Something tapped her back. Yuki screeched and scrambled backwards. “It’s just me.” Erin’s monotone voice spoke.

Yuki breathed heavily. “You scared me.”

Erin shrugged. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine. Where are we?” Yuki answered.

“In the tomb.”

Yuki meant where in the tomb, she didn’t ask more questions and looked around in the dark. Thank Nova that wolves have night-vision. The two were in an enclosed room, with the same symbols from the map scratched on the walls. There was an open gate by the side.

“We’re finding everyone else.” Erin said. Yuki nods and follows behind the winged wolf through the gate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dykfex is basically hell in this world.


	17. (Probably) A Bad Idea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I FINALLY UPDATED THIS TRASH

Yuki guessed that this place hasn't been visited for a long time. It was really musty here, and the air was still. Until now. She and Erin were walking down a hallway. Symbols were scratched on the walls.

“You know where everyone’s at specifically?” Erin didn’t respond and kept on walking.

Yuki bit her lip. They turned right and left, and she didn’t bother to memorize where they went anymore. It was safe to say that both canines were a bit lost.

They had been wandering around for a few minutes now. Erin probably won't admit that though.

Both ears perked up at the sound of shuffling. Yuki looked at Erin. The red wolf nodded at her and broke into a run. Yuki followed behind.

Light filtered through the opening where they entered. The four wolves that were supposed to be the only ones here were in a pile. Nicole groaned under Sarah. Monte’s tail was stuck under Sarah, and Purrlex sat on top of everyone.

They looked towards the two stowaways.

“Huh? Yuki? Erin? Am I hallucinating from that fall?” Nicole asked, dazed.

Monte shook his head. “No, they’re real and here right now. Sarah, could you please get off my tail?”

“Sorry! Purrlex is on top of me.”

Purrlex excused himself and then jumped down from the mountain of wolves. Sarah followed after, Monte scrambling from under her. Nicole sat up.

“Wait. Why are you two here with us?” Purrlex questioned. “Well, I kinda wanted to experience everything on this journey? So we both followed you?” Yuki shrugged with an apologetic expression.

“I can’t blame you for feeling that but...Sage is gonna be mad.” _Oh, about that_. Yuki forgot about Sage’s wrath after. _Is this worth it?_ _Probably._ Erin didn't show anything on her face but neutrality.

“Anyways, she did say trouble was brewing here, right?” Purrlex asked again. The other five confirm this by nodding.

“She only said there was trouble brewing, but nothing else specific.” Nicole let a sigh escape her lips.

Monte let his ears droop a little. “We should have asked what to look for before coming here.” They all silently agreed on this statement.

“We’ll just have to explore the whole of this build then.” Purrlex declared. Yuki looked forward to doing that.

\-----------------

“How big is this again?” Yuki asked again. “For Nova’s sake Yuki. We don’t know.” Nicole deadpanned, exasperated. Yuki took her words back from earlier.

It has been approximately thirty minutes since they had started the expedition in the Tomb. They were prepared for more exploring.

“Should have known it was gonna take this long.” Yuki muttered.

Something caught her eye in the distance. A stone door, with three buttons on both sides. Everyone else seemed to notice this and they trotted over. “This seems important enough.” Sarah paced around the door.

Yuki slammed both paws against two buttons and did the same to the other side. Something clicked. An arrow shot towards her, and she barely managed to dodge that.

“Yuki, what the fuck?” Nicole yelped. “I’m sorry! I didn’t know that it was gonna do that!” Nicole shook herself and snorted. “Just don’t do that again.”

Purrlex’s eyes lit up as something clicked inside his head. “Hey, I think I figured something out. Could someone come with me?” Monte nodded and the cat and wolf took off somewhere.

“I’m guessing we’ll wait for the two?” And they did. The two came running back, Purrlex taking one side of the door while Monte on the other. “Hey wait-” Sarah was cut off by the sounds of buttons being pressed against.

They all wait for the click. Nothing sounded. They threw questionable looks towards Monte and Purrlex. “I saw something that looked like a code awhile back in the start.” The white cat explained.

“It was some chipped paint on the wall shaped like squares. Two were white instead of the dark brown. And there was this line that separated the six squares.”

Before anyone responded to the explanation, the rock door was being lifted, making a grinding sound. They pinned their ears back and waited for the door to finish doing what it was doing.

Yuki looked inside. The room had a pedestal in the middle, but was empty.

The group gave each other knowing looks. This was the trouble Sage was talking about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AaaaaAAA way too many cliffhangers oh god-
> 
> Gotta stop those :')


	18. Trouble Brewing

The six move into the room, wary of any traps. Yuki padded closer to the pedestal. If a pedestal was in the room, then there should be something on it.

There wasn't.

There was a jagged dip on the top, supposedly where the item was inserted. "Didn't Sage say something about a gem?" Purrlex asked. He was on the opposite side of the pedestal, facing Yuki.

"Gem of Auradea, yeah." Nicole answered afterwards, somewhere in the room.

The white cat looks to the pedestal. "I'm guessing that it was supposed to be placed on top of this."

Yuki nods her confirmation.

"Guys, did you see any footprints before entering?" It was Monte who said this.

Nicole barked back, "That's random, coming from you. And to answer your your question, yes. Look."

They followed her order and looked downwards. There was a moderate layer of dust on the ground. Tracks were on the ground, making holes in the dust.

All but one track followed to where the six were standing now. It went to the pedestal first, then to some coffins in the room, then out an exit, to the right of the room.

Erin noticed the coffins and walked towards them. She prodded around at them. “These were probably the Ancients.”

She turned back towards the rest and walked towards them. 

"I guess that's the track of the thief?" Sarah questioned the other five.

Purrlex shrugged. "Most likely.”

“Who would want to take the gem anyway?” Sarah cocked her head.

Nicole answered. “Some idiot.”

“I’m not sure what else to do but find the culprit…” Monte seemed lost in thought.

Little did the group know, darkness was seeping through the cracks of the Ancient’s coffins.

“We’ll go report back to Sage then. Come on.” Nicole walked towards the right exit.

The five behind her looked at eachother and followed. Something growled. The six froze. Erin looked behind herself and what she saw made her said, “Run.”

The other five looked back and saw canine shadows following them.

“ **Hungry! Kill!”** One barked. And the other hounds lunged for them.

The six travelers bolted. They headed straight down the right exit, the shadow hounds following. 

“Why does this always happen to us?!” Yuki didn’t register who said it, as she was busy at the moment.

They twisted down the halls, dodging jaws as they went. Purrlex tripped in front of Yuki. She picked him up by the scruff and kept going.

The shadows chanted while they gave chase.

“ **Kill! Kill! Kill!** "

“I don’t want to die this way!” Sarah whines.  _ None of us do! _ One shadow snapped at Yuki’s heels. She yelped and sprinted faster.

Erin tried to barrel herself at a shadow, but she phased through and made herself slam into a wall.

_ Ouch. _

While distracted, a shadow bit Yuki’s tail. She howled and bucked it off, causing her fur to be ripped (painfully).

Erin somehow righted herself quickly out of Yuki’s sight, almost too fast.  _ Experience  _ is what Yuki’s mind said. She kept that thought to ask Erin about later.

_ If _ she lives later.

She felt an odd sense of  déjà vu worming itself through her.

Sarah, Nicole, and Monte all seem to be doing fine. For her and Erin, not so well. Yuki already had some wounds and was running out of stamina. Erin, meanwhile, had scuff marks from hitting the wall too hard.

They neared a dead end. A rock gate, closed. The six skidded to a halt. “Fuck...” Yuki heard Nicole curse under her breath.

Yuki lowered Purrlex onto the ground.

The shadow hounds advanced slowly. Some were yipping happily for the prey they trapped. Some eyes were malicious. One was even drooling.

“Wanna say some last words now?” Yuki nervously asked. Her fear rising every second.

“I wished I gave Sarah her death before mine.” Nicole stated without hesitation.

“Hey!” Sarah had the look of offence.

“Thought; You know group birthday parties? It's that but with funerals instead.” The others looked quizzically towards Monte.

He shrugged while looking at the shadows.

“Adding on to that idea, play ‘Never Gonna Give You Up” to Rickroll everyone who attends to the group funeral.” Purrlex added.

Yuki wheezed her last one. They looked towards the hounds.

“Goodbye.”

Then the pack of shadows jumped for the six.

And the world blurred until darkness enfolded them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cliffhanger sadly...but it was the best place to end the chapter hhhh


	19. Lets Go To Grakece

When Yuki woke up, she felt light. She blinked open her eyes. The first thing she saw was...cotton. That startled her awake further.

She was fully awake now. Looking down, she made sure it was cotton she was standing on. No...it was clouds. She was standing on clouds.

She looked around. It was sunny. The sky was blue. Animals flew around, white wings on their backs. The buildings here were white and tinted with gold. There were some marbled pillars. Fountains littered the ground every so often.

The animals here were young and old. All with happy faces.

The first thing she asked herself was, ‘ _Where am I?’_

Yuki ventured further. She hit fur. Glancing down, she saw the fur patterns of Sarah. The pink wolf stepped back a little.

She noticed the others of the traveling group.

_Sarah, Purrlex, Monte, Nicole...Erin?_

Yuki didn’t see any crimson and black fur anywhere.

The next thing she asked herself was, ‘ _Where is Erin?’_

Soon, the others around her started to wake. Nicole groaned and made herself sit in an upright position.

Sarah seemed interested in the clouds they were standing on. Purrlex looked around, Monte doing the same.

“Where are we?” Monte questioned after looking around.

A bright light flashed in front of them. They squinted their eyes. A majestic fennec fox stood in their wake.

His wings lowered. “Hello, you five. Welcome to Grakece.”

The five widened their eyes.

The fox continued. “Before you ask anything, no, you aren’t staying here yet. You five are needed on Auradea. This interaction will be quick, since staying out of your bodies too long will do many unwanted things.”

The five didn’t ask what the ‘unwanted things’ were. They kept listening to what the fox said.

The last thing he said was, “The nine of you are destined for halting an evil that still lurks Auradea. Farwell, travelers.”

The world blurred, and soon, the five found themselves in a forest. _The_ forest before entering the Tomb.

Yuki scrambled into a sitting position. It was midday now. She estimated that they were knocked out for a few hours at max.

She saw Erin waking up. And having a haunted look in her eyes.

‘Where did you go, Erin?’ Yuki did not ask and kept her muzzle shut.

She forgot to ask if she was revived from death, or if she was in an out-of-body experience.

Dangit.

“What now?” She heard Sarah say.

“We go find Gabe, Sage, and Kevin and tell them what we found.” Answered Nicole.

The other four nod their agreement. Erin was silent as the night.

\----------------

They trudged back from the tomb. Yuki wanted some water to drink. She was parched.

At last they saw the cliff where the waterfall fell. They trotted faster.

Something orange blurred past them and slammed into Erin. She made an ‘eep’ sound (the others questioned if they heard it or not).

“ERIN! THERE YOU ARE! YOU WORRIED ME SO MUCH!” It was Gabe.

The other five stood there silently while Gabe gave a lecture to Erin.

Sage appeared after Gabe, and following behind her was Kevin. Gabe stopped talking and backed away. Sage gave ‘the look’ at Yuki and Erin.

Their tails between their legs, the two wolves shy away and duck downwards, ears pinned backwards. The two didn’t meet the cat’s eyes. 

“Why did you two go with them?”

Yuki whimpered.

Erin spoke. “We didn’t think it was fair that everyone got to go and we didn’t so we uh, snuck off to where you guys were. We didn’t know this would happen.”

“We’re sorry. I speak for Erin and I.” Yuki apologized.

Sage sighed. “It’s alright. Just don’t worry me like this.” She didn’t add ‘next time’.

Nicole spoke. “Sage, we have some interesting finds to tell you.” Sage nods. “Go on.”

And so Nicole launches into a summary of what happened.

Sage looked very concerned. Kevin shifted his paws around. Gabe chewed his lip.

“This is very serious if you went to Grakece and had an angel there talk to you. The gem needs to be found sooner rather than later.” Sage voiced.

They silently agreed with the statement.

After that, they ate a little and drank water. They rested before heading where the culprit went.

\-----------------

They headed towards a glade. Yuki sniffed around. She smelled a cat in the wind. Not Sage’s scent though. Different.

The walking stopped. She almost bumped into Kevin. On a rock in the middle of the glade, there sat a cat. A calico.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Sage padded closer. “Bristle?”

The cat stirred.

“ **No, the Bristle you talk of is gone.** ”

Bristle(?) said that in a different voice. It was like if two voices tried to talk over eachother, with the same sentence.

This was not the Bristle she knew since being kitted. She noticed the mark on his shoulder. “Bristle, you’re hurt! Come back with us and-”

“ **There's nothing you can do for him. There is just me now,** ” He cut off. Then he opened his eyes. “ **Ren.** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not exatly sure if I mentioned it, (sorry if I already did!) but Grakece is heaven in this world.


	20. Ren

Sage had tears leaking down her face now. Ren’s eyes. They were a dark purple now. With white slits for the pupil. Bristle’s head was now adorned with a pair of horns, the right one broken.

On his left shoulder, there was a deep, purple slash. 

“What happened to you?”

Ren turned to look at her clearly. He huffed. “ **I happened. As you know, the** **_gem_ ** **got stolen, and I am here to show you me performing something incredible.** ” He said gem as if it was something that disgusted him.

Which it probably did.

“You have the gem? Give it back!” Yuki shouted from the back.

Useless and stupid was was Ren muttered under his breath. “ **I-** ”

He stopped suddenly to cough.

He looked at Sage directly, with normal eyes.

“Sage! I would think that I would never see you again! Please help me, I've been possessed by this dragon. Please take the gem I have by my side. If I never see you again, know that I love y-”

Bristle started to cough again.

Sage ran up to him. She touched noses with him. “I will, Bristle. I love you t-”

Bristle’s eyes flashed purple again, then he clawed Sage.

There were audible gasps nearby as she landed in the buttercup patch. Sarah ran towards Sage and asked if she was okay. Nicole growled at possessed Bristle, stepping between him and Sage.

“ **You’re too sappy with your brother, and I hate that. Now, watch this.** ”

Purrlex attempted to lunge at Ren. Instead, he got batted away mid-air.

Ren prepared to step on the most green crystal Sage had ever seen, shaped like Auradea. “NO! Wait! If you shatter it, you’ll release the evil stored in this land!” Sage shouted, with a claw wound down her right eye.

“ **Do I look like I care?** ”

Ren then, in a show of pleasure, stepped on the green crystal.

It shattered into pieces.

Then it reformed into two pieces. One had black, red, and purple swirling inside. The other had green, white, and gold.

The two floated upwards and shot into opposite directions.

Ren cursed under his breath. Sage kept track of where both pieces went. “Guys come on! Let's get to the pieces before Ren!” Monte shouted.

Sarah provided herself as a cane for Sage as they ran for the green piece. Ren went the other way, towards the black one.

“ **We will meet again!** ” Ren roared.

The group ignored the statement and sprinted away.

\-----------------

“Where could it have gone?”

Nicole sighed. “Somewhere around here.” She replied to Yuki.

Yuki turned. “Specifically.”

Nicole didn’t reply and looked under some bushes.

Meanwhile, Sage was being patched by her own herbs by others. They were doing a messy job.

Sage’s eye was finally bandaged around. She hasn’t said anything but to patch her eye using gauze since encountering Ren.

She was catching up with her thoughts.

“Found it!” Purrlex loudly meowed. He brought the half over.

“What now?” Sarah asked.

The others didn’t know what to say. They found the grass very interesting at the moment.

“We find the other half and return the gem to its former glory.”

They turned to face the voice. It was Sage.

She seemed weary and depressed. A gleam shone in her one eye.

“We get the other half from Ren if he hasn’t found it by now. Which is unlikely since we found our half pretty quick. We’ll take our chance anyways.”

They got up to follow Sage.

\-----------------

Any trace of Ren and the other half of the gem were gone.

The nine searched for almost the whole day. Ren and the gem were gone, and everyone assumed that he got to it before them.

Disheartened, the group left for Sage’s hut. Sage tried to cheer them up a little.

“Guys, Ren won’t have full power if he doesn’t have the full gem.”

Sometimes when you try your best, it won’t be enough.

They passed a landmark near the hut that lit Yuki’s eyes up with curiosity.

“What’s this?”

It seemed that this place was overgrown with vines. Pine trees surrounded the area, and there were two sandpits. There were also holes in the small rock structure.

It looked like three entrances to a cave, but it wasn’t. Just a dent enough to be called a shelter. Sand was inside.

“Woah.” Purrlex looked in awe. They padded down from the side and prodded around.

“This could house animals if we clear out the vines…” Monte thought out-loud.

Sarah hummed in agreement.

“Our den if we did.” Purrlex added to Monte’s train of thought.

Monte nodded and went to Sage to tell her about the plan he just made.

Sage told everyone that they could live here if they cleaned up this place. “Not to sound rude, I still will allow you to come to my hut, if you want to.”

The other eight liked the plan, but would carry it out in a few days time.

They headed back into the hut.


	21. Life Letters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed the title of the fic because it didn't fit anymore, hope you understand!

Days passed. Yuki woke up to the smell of roast meat. The sun was shining brightly outside, and somehow Yuki slept till after twelve in the morning.

She groggily stretched herself and padded upstairs. The smell of breakfast (lunch? ...Brunch) had her mouth watering.

The others were sitting outside, waiting for the unidentifiable type of meat to cook fully.

_Good morning_ ’s rang around Yuki, as she trotted into view. “Sleep well?” Gabe asked her. Yuki nodded and sat near Nicole and Erin.

The meat was finally done cooking, and they put the fire out. While they ate, they discussed what would happen to the place they found yesterday.

The plan was to rid of the vines on the ground, clear the branches that fell, move some moss to the holes. They had to at least make it look home-ish. Yuki and Monte walked to the stream together.

“What do you think about the place?” He asked.

It took a moment to think what she would say. “If we clear out the debris littered around, I think it would look really nice. Maybe add some aesthetics, I don’t know.” Yuki shugged.

Monte hummed. They both took a sip of the cold river water and padded back where they came from.

A few minutes later, they would go out and help remodel the place. The Den.

\-----------------

“You dumbass, bring the sticks over there Sarah!” Nicole yelled from across.

“You never told me to!” Sarah snarked back.

Erin sighed and grabbed the whole pile of sticks. She flew out of the clearing with them in paw.

Yuki picked at some vines. They were really tough to rip, and it seemed that they were here a long time.

She pricked herself with a thorn. Hissing slightly, she yanked the object from her paw pads. And now she had a slight limp.

_Great_.

When the vines were piled up, they set it on stone and asked Erin to somehow burn them. It was a precaution, as they didn’t know if the vines could regrow out of dirt.

The six went to the river in the back and washed their dirty paws. Smoke blew from somewhere near the Den.

Fire crackled. “Guys, you have a bucket of water or something?” Gabe said from somewhere.

\-----------------

After the fire was put out (with tiny splashes of water and huffing and puffing), they rested.

“We still need the moss.”

“Right. About that.”

Purrlex exited the Den and came back with moss in his mouth.

“The whole time you all were ripping vines, I was finding scraps of moss.”

They dragged the moss in the dens afterwards.

This took most of the afternoon. They ate their belated lunch and tested the moss.

The moss had some pricks in it, but they got them out soon after. Their ears twitched at a raucous cawing in the distance.

A raven.

Carrying a letter in their talons. The raven flew up to the group. “Hey there! King Allanon and the other royals requested a meeting in the Main City Meeting Hall. Be there at two in the afternoon three days from now!”

The raven flew before anyone could say anything.

“You too!” Yuki called after them.

She inwardly slapped herself. They were a messenger, they probably wouldn’t even be there at all.

“I wonder what the royals called us for…” Sage wondered out-loud.

“We’ll find out in three days.” Nicole stated.

Sage nodded.

“I’ll try to sleep here and see if it’s alright.” Yuki voiced.

Some of the others were going to do the same. They spent the dusk discussing what and why would the royals want everyone at the Meeting Hall.

Gabe seemed uncomfortable. Erin noticed this and scooted closer.

“Could I not go?” He asked.

The other eight faces portrayed confusion. “Why?” Sage asked.

“Er, well…” Gabe’s face blanked out. “Whatever the reason, we won’t force you.” Sage politely said.

“Thanks.”

That night, after dinner, some went to Sage’s hut, while some went to the Den.

Yuki settled down on one of the moss scraps. It was comfortable.

She drifted to sleep, lulled by the sound of snoring and crickets.


	22. Emergencies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> The above means flashback

Finally it was the day for the meeting. The air was more cold now, due to the coming of fall. Leaves on trees started turning colors.

Sage padded into the clearing with the others who slept in the hut.

“It’s time to go now, guys.”

Yuki yawned and stretched. She wasn’t a morning person, but it wasn’t even morning right now. It was two in the afternoon. At least that’s what Yuki thinks.

She prodded the others around her awake.

Gabe just said he’ll stay here, guarding the Den. “Can I not go too?” Erin asked.

“Sure, we’ll be back when the meeting’s over.”

\-----------------

“What time is it, Sage?” Yuki asked.

“It’s around one-thirthy in the afternoon.”

“Oh.”

The six were walking towards Main City. There was still a long walk ahead, and Yuki’s paws were aching already.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

“Gabe why did you not want to go?” Erin questioned Gabe. “There’s- I have a history with King Allanon’s family.”

“Oh. And they’re still angry?”

“Yeah.” He sighed.

Between him and Erin, they we’re partners together for a long time now. His history with the royals was before the time he joined a gang with her, led by his best friend, Niall.

Those days were far over now.

All they did after the gang ended, and before joining Yuki and her friends, were just setting things on fire. Mostly Erin did the arson, while he kept out for any eyes watching.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The blood. 

The bodies.

Niall.

Gone. 

Killer on the loose.

_Gabe stood in front of a shivering Erin, protecting her._ Niall- he-he just ran.

_Both minds thought the same thing._ Did he abandon us?

_The other gang members were all dead._ Dead.

_Sirens went off somewhere. Blue and red lights came nearer. It lit up two terrified faces._

_“Come on Erin, we gotta go before the police get here.” Erin whimpered and stood up on wobbly legs._

_They ran as fast as they could._

_Gabe almost tripped on his nine tails._

_He looked behind. Bodies wrapped in white were carried away._ The gang members _. Detectives padding around. Police patrolling the area. Ambulances stationed near._

_Gabe transformed into a hawk quickly and carried Erin far, far away. Away from the_ pain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He shook himself. That was the past. It was the present now.

Erin looked worried. “Gabe?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just thought of something.” Erin didn’t look convinced.

“...The past.”

Erin looked a bit more sad at that statement. She sat down beside him and buried her head beside his neck fluff.

She whined a little.

Gabe licked her cheek. “It’s behind us now. Think of the others having a good time in Grakece. Niall wouldn’t want you to be sad over this.”

“I really hope so. I wonder if he’s still alive. Why did he leave us?”

“He’s alive, I’m sure. Give him time to come back to us, Erin”

Erin whined again.

Gabe went and grabbed a scrap of moss and rolled it into a ball.

This was a game they once played.

Erin’s eyes lit up. “Ohh!’

He drew two lines in the sandpit.

They played very competitively.

Erin got a little tired after running around so much. She hit Gabe’s face a few times.

She leaned against Gabe and watched the trees sway in the wind.

Erin fell asleep on his shoulder. He carried her over to the Moss Beds and set her down carefully without disturbing her.

He licked the tuft of fur on her head. “Nap well, Erin.”


	23. A Caution

The six arrived outside of the Meeting Hall in Main City. It was packed. Yuki got hit in the face a few times, same went for everyone else.

“Help me!” Sarah got dragged under the furs and feathers. “Sarah!” Monte tried grabbing her paw, but failed ultimately.

A cough over the mic. The crowd quieted.

A multi-colored bird of paradise spoke into King Allanon’s ear. “Allanon, you shouldn't have called  _ everyone _ here.”

“Cerys, sometimes I don’t think everything through. I should have just called some to come and spread the word.”

“Yeah, you should’ve.” King Andre was off to the side, staring at the two impatiently.

Allanon sighed and spoke into the microphone.

“Hello, people of Auradea. We’ve called you here because of a dangerous event coming up.”

The crowd started whispering uneasily. 

King Allanon then turned towards Cerys and the others.

He whispered, “Should I get to the point or go slow and easy on them?”

In the back, Queen Kubitha spoke. “Go easy on them, don’t cause immediate panic.”

Allanon nodded and turned his gaze to the crowd.

“We have… a problem.”

He stopped and thought of what to say.

“An animal, named Bristle has obtained half of the Gem of Auradea.”

The crowd hasn’t reacted. They thought he was a collector of some sorts. Bristle is but Ren isn’t. The group already knew that this was bad.

“He’s… “ Allanon shook his head. The crowd stared at him. He couldn’t do anything like his father. He was too young to be a king. He shouldn’t be here. He should have stayed a prince.

Cerys took the spotlight for him.

“He told us that he has his forces ready and he will take over Auradea with darkness.”

”He declared war.”

Then the crowd erupted.

Shouting, crying, and fear.

“In a day, a messenger will come to you with a form. We ask for you to join the Light Force Army. We need you.”

Whatever Cerys said after was buried under the crowd’s panic.

“Please calm down!” Andre growled. “Those of you who will not join will be escorted to somewhere safe from the war!”

They believed in the royal’s word, and the crowd parted.

Sarah wasn’t looking fine after being trampled. No, the whole group wasn’t.

Physically and mentally.

“Come on guys, let's figure this out when we get back.” Sage murmured.

\-----------------

“War…” The thought made Yuki’s blood run cold. There’s only been one war in the history of Auradea.

That was the War of Dark Force.

And that was about the repeat.

Sage had brewed them some tea to calm their nerves. They were discussing who would go.

Sage had said that she would come and apply to be a medic.

Everyone else wanted to go to the camp too. This was their fault. Their fault because they let Ren obtain the other half.

They would try making it up by fighting for the Light Force.

They waited for the messenger to come.


	24. Camp

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes i changed the title again

And they did. This time it was a hawk.

“I want you to sign this form right here if you’re applying.”

Sage asked if she could become a medic. The hawk said yes. He would have to register her first.

Everyone signed their names and the hawk flew off. He said to wait at max a few days. Someone would come and lead them to camp.

\-----------------

It took one day. Another bird came for them.

“The royals approved your request, Sage. Same goes for all the rest. If you’re ready, follow me.”

They packed their things and went with the robin.

They traveled almost all day. They reached a barren wasteland, where a camp was nestled in.

“How many camps are across Auradea at the moment? Purrlex asked.

“So far, there’s five.” The bird responded.

They neared the camp. It was dusk now.

King Allanon stood at the entrance, holding a stack of papers. It looked a bit ridiculous, if not for the fact that there was a war coming up.

They bowed when they got near.

He nodded to the group, but his gaze lingered on Gabe a bit too long. “Please state your names.” The wolf finally said.

Yuki stepped forward. “Yuki, Your Majesty.”

He handed her a piece of double sided paper.

-~-

Yuki Class: Warrior

Scout

A.

Morning Exercises - Allanon

Combat - Allanon

Break/Lunch

School of Monsters - Cerys

Nightout

-~-

And on the back…

-~-

B.

Morning Exercises - Allanon

Stealth - Kubitha

Break/Lunch

Water Combat - Andre

School of Monsters - Cerys

Nightout

-~-

Yuki inspected her ‘schedule’ closely.

She moved out the way so that the others could introduce themselves and get their paper.

\-----------------

Purrlex’s primary class wasn’t a warrior. It was Scout. Same went for Sarah.

King Allanon pointed to somewhere in the camp. “Find a tent with your and your tentmate’s name on it. That’s going to be the place you sleep every night.”

He looked at everyone individually.

“Yuki, you’re with Kevin. Nicole, with Sarah. Monte with Purrlex. Erin with Gabe. And Sage, there is a tent where all the other medics are. Linsey is going to lead you there.”

The robin chirped.

Yuki assumed that that was the robin’s name.

“After you locate your tent, go inside. Someone’s going to bring you food. Then, it’s nightout.”

“Tomorrow, I will explain more on your schedules.”

“Could I not have Sarah as a tentmate?”

Nicole waited for an answer.

“Feel free to swap with anyone here.”

Nicole didn’t expect Allanon to cave in that quickly.

She chose to swap with Kevin.

_The poor thing_ , Yuki thought. He would definitely choose to stay with his kin than anyone else of the group.

“Please take Kevin’s and your nametags off the tents and swap them.”

Nicole nodded. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Kind Allanon nodded back and moved out the way of the entrance.

“I don’t want to be with Sarah.” Kevin whispered to Yuki.

“Deal with it. Plus, my tent is right beside yours. Maybe we could have you come over. But Sarah…”

Kevin shrugged.

They located the tents and Nicole ripped her and Kevin’s nametag off them.

Nicole placed her’s on Yuki’s tent and Kevin’s on Sarah’s tent.

“Have fun, you two.” Nicole smirked and padded into her tent.

Yuki gave Kevin a concerned look and followed Nicole.

Inside, there were two sleeping bags. “Woah, sleeping bags? I’ve never been in one before.”

“Same goes for everyone else in the group.”

_Of course. We’re all Wild_.

The two waited until their small dinner arrived.

“No sounds coming from Kevin and Sarah. They’re getting along.”

Yuki shook her head.

“Probably not. He’d rather be with me than anyone else of the group. That’s the truth.”

“I’m happy at least when Sarah’s not around.”

“Of course.”

After eating their fill, they stacked their plates outside with the rest of the others. A horn blew.

Nightout.

“Well, guess we’ll face whatever Dykfex is gonna happen tomorrow.”

Nicole agreed.

Yuki got into her sleeping bag.

“Goodnight. Nicole.”

“Goodnight Yuki.”


End file.
